Remember Me?

Y'all. It's been two months. Did you think I was gone forever? I've entertained that thought once or twice, but I knew the break would only be temporary. Things have been so hectic! Thanksgiving in Texas, my birthday and Christmas back in Florida, and now here we are back in Texas, living. We did it, we moved! Really I thought I'd be back in the groove right after Thanksgiving- but reality hit when December rolled around and I took a hard look at my empty suitcases and boxes. I'm moving in like three weeks, do I need to be packed for that? If you follow on Instagram, you've already been getting glimpses of our life over the past few months, so I won't be backtracking to recap all that I've missed. But I'm totally reserving the right to spam you with pictures and thoughts from the bloggy break, per moments of nostalgia.

We had an awesome Christmas with my parents before beginning our new adventure. Up until the move, the furthest I had ever lived from my parents was just over two hundred miles. Throughout college and the first year and a half of marriage (and parenthood) my parents were always a phone call and three hour drive away. I was independent, yet still dependent in the sense that if Juan really pissed me off I could easily make the drive back home to mommy and daddy. And that happened... more than once or twice. But now that we live so far away, there's a whole new realm of feelings and a new reality. Juan and I are dependent on each other. We are each other's support system, and have been forced to improve in many different aspects of our marriage. Paramore rocks it to us real straight: Don't go crying to your mama 'cause you're on your own in the real world. In the short month that we've been here, both Juan and I have already been forced to grow up a tad bit more. That's not to say we're ready to switch over to full on grown-up mode, you'll still catch us hula hooping in the aisles at Target and buying the occasional pack of Ramen noodles.

A little rant about the actual moving part (and I'm no expert on moving nor army life), but as a new to army life family we are completely disappointed with the turn out of our move. I won't go as far as saying clowns were hired to move us... but clowns were hired to move us. If our furniture is not banged up or split in half, it's completely missing. Loaded onto the semi in Florida, no longer on the semi when unloading in Texas. Poof, vanished. Granted, the semi made a few deliveries along the way, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around the thought of someone being so oblivious to the freaking ginormous box full of Jeep Wrangler parts that was accidentally unloaded at the wrong house. Luckily we are only missing a few boxes and most of our stuff made it. Though from the looks of how it all made it, it was just barely. Tetris, anyone? If you take a close look, you can see Juan's motorcycle supporting the entire contents of our house. I can't even.

So we are now in the process of submitting damaged or missing items claims. A process that not only has us constantly worried about whether we will be reimbursed or SOL listed (SOL is not army jargon), but it also requires a stupid amount of paperwork and sales receipts. Receipts are obviously needed to confirm that what you are seeing is, in fact, our TempurPedic mattress with a giant slash in it and not Barbie's plastic toilet, duh. They are also needed to confirm the amount we paid for each item- luckily we bought most of our furniture from Ashley who will provide the documentation. But what if we hadn't? Will they really tell us we are shit out of luck if we can't provide the receipt from the lamp that was purchased four years ago? Sure, I have that receipt in my front pocket. Oh and it's fine that my end table is demolished, the Craigslist seller that I bought it from two years ago gave me a complimentary receipt. Ef.

That's what we're dealing with, praying it will be resolved soon. It is most discouraging trying to settle in and build a love for our house with our broken stuff taking up space. At the end of the day, most of it is still functional, and for that we are thankful. Thankful, too, that the four of us made it to Texas in one piece. 
I'm ready to make this house a home!